Street indicator



A. DULL STREET INDICATOR Aug. 19 1924. A 1,505,528

Fied July 18, 1923 2 Sheetsbshee, l

w Alk/905m J70/l. Y

A TTYS.

Aug. i9 w., 1,505,628

A. DULL STREET INDICATOR Filed July 18, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a i/ 74/ a 2f Af/ asfaa/l @www Patented Aug. 19, i924.,

estates sra-Enr. INDIGATQR.

`.Application led July 18, 1923. Serial No. 652,279.

To all LU/toncit may concern.'

Be it known that I, AUGUSTA Dunn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county yof Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Street Indicators, of which the following is a- 'speciiication t This invention relates to street and station indicators for passenger vehicles, `and more particularly for railway vehicles.

An object of the invention is to Aprovide a station or street indicator of extremely simple and practicable construction and involving a single motor constantly in mesh with one of a set of constantly meshed gears, whereby to drive either of selective winding reels. Jinother object is to provide .an improved and manually controlled, electrically actuated clutch means for selectively connecting one or the other of the reels to the constantly running gears.

An object is to provide an electrically operated street indicator including safety electric means to orevent the overrunning of the ribbon on w ich the street or station names are provided. Another object 'is 'to provide an apparatus including momentary contact switches for initiating operation of the motor and to provide means for automatically breaking the circuit of the motor after the setting of each station or street signal. An object is to provide means oper-y ative to automatically break the motor circuit and to maintain a broken motorr circuit to prevent the sign ribbon from being over.F run by inadvertence, and an object is ,tov

provide manual means for opening the cir-l f cuit of the means which breaks the motor Figure l is a perspective of the preferred formr of indicator.

Fig. 2 isa longitudinal section `between the top and bottom of the' shell of the indicator and showing parts in plan. n

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the clutch mechanism of one of the reels.

' purpose to ,be described.

'at theiry upper ends.

Fg- 4 S a perspective of a portion ofthe indicator'tape. y

Fig. 5 is a,k sectional and Adiagrammatic view of the apparatus,including the shell.

. Fig.6 is a planshowing diagrammatically the position kof theindicator in a car.

The apparatus, Vas shown, includes mechanismk preferablyk .arranged within a shell 2 of suitable dimensions and which has convergent frontwindows 3 and 3a so that when street or station names or indexes there is providedtin the tape apertures 11, the final aperture 11@ at each end of the tape being of greater length than the remainder' for a l The tape is adapted to be readily attached at each of its ends toa spool or reel 12..,two of which are provided, and these areA adapted tofbe kreadily attached to and detached from spindles 13; thereels `being vkeyed or pinned `asat 111 to `be rotated with' and by thev spin-y dles, which-are supported in a4 suitable bearing o r frame 15 mounted inthe shell 2.

The spindles are provided 4with shoulders 16, preventingtheir downward .axial :novel ment, and above these springs 1,7, react`- ing against rclutch hubs 18, having discs 19 members to selectively :lock with constant-ly meshed gears; 20, which are provided with pinholes 20, Figure 3,'to receive clutch ory lockingpinsQ1` onfthe respective discs 19.

yThe clutch hubs 18 are loosely vmounted These discs form clutch Pn.ijnlxrr lorales.v

ongthe spindles '1,3 .and 's are positively conf nected to the gears for lrotation therewith by connecting pins 2,2 iiXedin the gears and slidable in apertures 28 inthe clutch discs 19. f Thegears 20are loosely mounted on reduced ,end portions of the spindles 1B and above the gears are rigidly secured on the s indles clutch ydiscs 24, which are provide with y apertures 24a disposed s0 as to register with and receive the clutch pins 21 ion 26 engaging with one of the gears 20.

The gears are in constant mesh with each other and therefor rotate in opposite directions.`

' As shown in Figure 2, a signal tape 10 passes tangentially 'and in opposite directions from the reels 12, which have parallel axes, and outwardly toward idler drums 27, arranged with axes-parallel in a com-v mon plane, and from the outer faces of which the tape passes outwardly toward a central guide drum 28, arranged at the front apex of the shell so thatconvergent stretches of the indicator tape 10 are exposed'at the windows 3 and 3a by that portion of Y the tape extending convergently forwardly from the end drums.

It will be seen that in using an indicator with a plurality of windows for simultaneously displaying similar station or street names, the tape 10 will be provided with a number of each station or street name corresponding to the number of Windows through which the station or street will be indicated. Gbviously, in some cases only a single window may be employed, and in such cases there would be but a single occurrence of each station or street name on the tape. As shown in Figure 4, the street names are in each case duplicated, and between each pair of identic street names occurs `the aperture 11 before mentioned.

is connected a conductor a, which is conH The motor 25 is adapted to be intermit-y tently energized by the motorman, con'I ductor, guard or other authorized person, at a suitable moment so as to set the station or street indicator in ample time before the arrival of the vehicle at the next street or station. For this purpose, to the motor nected to an armature 25b engaging av con tact connected by a line 3()a to a service or main line 31 from a source of current. The motor circuit includes a line 32 connected at 33 to the parallel `main circuit line 34. Thus, when the switch-forming armature 25h is in4 engagement with the contact 30, the motor is energized and will drive the gears 20, one of which will be clutched or coupled to its contiguous shaft disc 24 and the latter will be driven. The motor switch armature 25D is connected to a spring 25 holding it either open or closed.

The motor switch armature 25b is adapted to be closed by a manually controlled means including an electromagnet 35 connected at 35a to the main feed wire 31, and it is also connected` by a wire 35b to a line 36 having terminals 37-37 forming a part of respective momentary contact switch structures 38-38, from which extend conductors 40-40a connected respectively to 'electromagnets 41-41a. These magnets are connected by wire 42 to the main circuit conductor 34. Thus, if either momentary contact switch 38 or 38 bev closed, current flows through the vmain line 31 to the switch magnet 35, thence through wire 35D to one end or the other of the wire 36 and through the closed switch 38 or 38 and thence to its respective magnet 41 or 41av and thence by wire 42 to the main circuit conductor 34. This results in energizing the motor switch magnet 35 and closing the motor switch member 25b against its contact 30 so. that the motor will be energized and the gears driven.

The electromagnets 41%41ZL are in the form of solenoids having cores 43-43, the upper ends of which are connected toa lever device44, centrally fulcrumed on a bearing 45 forming a part of the frame 15. The lever device 44 is provided as vmeans lfor positively disconnecting a clutch member 19 which may be coupled to its respective spindle disc 24.

The rclutch hubs 18 are provided with shoulders 18a, Figure 3, on which ride pins v46 provided on the lever 44, so that when the solenoid is energized, the downwardly moving portion of the lever will, through its pins 46, shift the respective clutch member 18 down and thus disengage the respective spindle disc 24, so that while the gears and clutch members may be concurrently operating, one of the spindles will be disengaged.

Substantially concurrently with the disengagement of one clutch device, the other clutch device will be shifted into effective position by its respective spring 17 surrounding a spindle 13. The connecting spring 17 thrusts the clutch pin 21 up against the bottom face of the respective spindle disc 24 and as soon as the aperture 24a therein registers with the clutch pin 21, these parts become coupled and the respective spindle 13 and its reel 12 will be driven.

Since the reels are fixed on the spindles 13, and since the clutchmembers 18 are loose on the spindles and are selectively coupled thereto, it will be seen that the spindle which is coupled to its driving clutch will operate to wind the tape 10 on one reel, while the opposite reel will be free as to its respective clutch and may, therefore, unwind,irrespec tive of the fact that its respective gear 2O and clutch device 18 are being rotated.

When the operator presses a momentary contact Switch 38 or 38, the motor circuit is closed and the motor will be started' and continue to run until its circuit is automatically broken so as to' shift the vindicating tape so as to successively present the street or station names at the window or windows, as the case may be. As soon as the name is properly registered with the windows, the motor circuit is automatically broken in the following manner:

The motor wire 32 is provided with a branch line 32 grounded to one of the idlers 27, and at the line of the apertures l1 in the tape there is provided a contact roller 32" from which extends a wire 32 leading toa normally closedswitch 47,. The'circuit closing switch 47 is connected by a line 48 to another normally closed switch 4", which in turn is connected by a wire 49 to an electromagnet 50, which is connected by a wirel to the motor circuit wire a. Therefore, when the operator has closed either of the master switches 38-38, the motor will be started and will run until one of the tape apertures 11 rims under the contact roller 32" which, upon engaging the idlerdrum 27,' will short the motor circ-uit through the line 32a, line 32 to the closed switches 474 a and line 4S, thence by wire 49 to the electro-v magnet 50, thence Aby wire 51 to theline 25a; whereupon the energized magnet will attract the switch member 25b and thus `break the motory circuit at the Contact 30,` The switch member 25b will be held in circuitbreaking or open position by vits spring device 25".

The momentum of the running parts'will be suiiicient to carry the tape 10 al sufficient degree to shift each of the short apertures l1 beyond the short-circuiting contact device 327 so that when the operator next closes either of the master switches 38 or 38, the parts will be in such condition as to permit the closing of the motor circuit when the magnet 35 is energized and its armature 25h drawn over to close the motor circuit at contact 30. It is obvious that as the tape lO'is shifted, the circuit closing roller 32 is disengaged from the drum 2'? and the motor cii'cuitbrealting magnet 50 is therefore deenergized.

lt is desirable to provide for the automatic locking of the clutch disengaging lever 44y ink either of its two normal positions so that at the end of a run of the vehicle, when the operator desires to selectively determine the directionof movement of the tape '10, thisis accomplished by the initial action of the` mechanism by closure of either of the switches 38 or 38', and thereafter the selected clutch is adapted to remain in locked` position until subsequently disengaged.`

The locking means is shown as including a spring actuated latch for each endk of the lever 44, the latches being provided with noids 4ll 'As above described, the master switches are connected so as to substantially concurrently energize the motor starting magnet 35 and `the respective solenoids lil-41a. Thereforeas the motor circuit is closed initially at each end of a vrun to commence a winding ofthe tapeyon one reel or the other, the clutch actuating lever 44 will be shifted by the energized solenoid and the upwardly latchedend of the clutch member 44 will 'be released by the tripping of its latch 55 by 'the energized solenoid, while the opposite and, upwardly moving end of the lever 44`will be latched in its upper position byits respective latch member 55.

Thefshorter apertures 1l provide for the interruption of the motor circuit as soon as the necessary shift of the tape has been completed by the motor and, as stated, momentum of the parts will shift the apertures 1l to cis'engage the short circuiting member 32bfrom the grounded drum 27. Therefore, as soonas the operator again actuates' a momentary contact master switch, the motor will be again energized.

To prevent the operators yoverrnnning the tape after passing `of the last station name on the tape, this latter is provided with an elongated yaperture ll at each end, and

this aperture is designed to permit closure at the contact device 32h on the drumr 27 and prevent operation of the motor by closure ofthe master switches, or either of them, until the operator opens one or the other of the closed switchesy 4Z-4Ta. The terminal apertures lltv are of such length as not to be carried from the short-circuiting device 32h by momentum of the parts.

There is a pair of switches 38-47 and 3847k atieach kend of the vehicle, and

vthese switches of each pair arer arranged,

for purposes of preventing accidental or inadvertent closure, at suchdistance from eachother that the operator must make intentional movement to rconcurrently actuate the switchesk 38-47 or BFS/ 47% lf the operator closes a switchf38 or 38 while a tape aperture ,llL permits short-circuiting at the contact device 32h, it will only serve to attract the switch armature 25h and this will be instantly retracted by the magnet 50, In order to break the closed circuit through the magnet 50, the operator must open the switch 475er the switch 4T, according to which Iend of the vehicle he may' be posi tioned. By opening either switch 47 or 47 andthen closing thema ster switch 3S or 88',

the short vcircuit at the device 82b is overcome yand. the'y motor, `being therefore energized'byfclosure ofy its swit'ch25", will start the, action ofthe driving gears 2O and the rewinding of the tape Will be initiated. The lever actuated solenoids L11- 41a are controlled by the respective switches 38-38 from opposite ends of the vehicle, so as to Wind and rewind the tape according to the direction of travel.

It is to be noted that the circuit as here described eliminates circuit-breaking at and on the contact roller or drum-27 and therefore prevents destruction of the ribbon passing under the same,.since the circuit current is broken by the opening of the motor switch 251. v

The circuit opening switches 47-47a may be held open until, by successive operation of the master switches 3S-38', the motor can be substantially continously run for Winding up the entire tape l0, Where 1t is desirable to make changes or replace tape rolls.

lf a mistalre is made in the operation of the switches, as by successive pressure, the tape can kbe re-set by simply operating the control switches at the opposite end of the vehicle-to suiiiciently reverse the Wind ot the tape to overcome the error.

Further embodiments, modifications and variations may be resorted to Within the principle of the invention.

That is claimed is:

l. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, a pair of Winding reels, parallel spindles to which the reels are detachably connected, an intermittently operative motor, a pair of meshed gears one of which is engaged and driven 'by said motor, and clutch means for selectively operatively connecting the spindles to 'the gears.

2. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, a pair of Winding reels, parallel spindles to which the reels are detachably connected, an intermittently operative motor, a pair of meshed gears one of Which is engaged and driven by said motor, clutch means for selectively operatively connecting the spindles to the gears, and means for controlling the engaging and disengaging action of the clutch means as to the Yrespective spindles.

3. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, a pair of Winding reels, parallel spindles to Which the reels are detachably connected, an intermittently operative motor, a pair of meshed gears one of Which is engaged and driven by said motor, and clutch means for selectively operatively connecting the spindles to the gears, said clutch means including members fixed to the spindles and elements loosely and slidably mounted on the spindles to be coupled to the said members.

4f. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, a pair of Winding reels, parallel spindles to Which the reels are detachably connected, an intermittently operative motor, a pair of meshed gears one of Which is engaged and driven by said motor, andv clutch means for selectively operatively connecting the spindles to the gears, said clutch means including elements slidably and rotatably mounted on the spindles and operatively attached Vto the gears to rotate therewith, and clutch members secured on the spindles and engageable by parts on said elements to be driven thereby.

5. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, a pair of Winding reels, parallel spindles to which the reels are detachably connected, an intermittently operative motor, a pair of meshed gears one of which is engaged and driven by said motor, and clutch means for selectively operatively connecting the spindles to the gears, said clutch means including elements slidably and rotatably mounted on the spindles and operatively attached to the gears to rotate therewith, and clutch members secured on the spindles and engageable by parts on said elements to be driven thereby, said slidable clutch elements being yieldingly thrust in one direction.

6. A street or stationI indicator comprising, in combination, a pair of Winding reels,

parallel spindles to Which the reels are detachably connected, an intermittently operative motor, a pair of meshed gears one of Which is engaged and driven by said motor, and clutch means'itor selectively operatively connecting the spindles to the gears, said clutch means including elements slidably land rotatably mounted on the spindles and operatively Vattached to the gears to rotate therewith, clutch members secured on the spindles and engageable by parts on said elements to be driven thereby, said A.slidable clutch elements being yieldingly thrust in one direction, and means for positively disengaging the operative clutch I elements and releasing the inoperative clutch elements for its connecting action.-

7. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, an intermittently operative motor, a pair of meshed gears one ot Which is driven directly by the motor, reel carrying spindles on which the said gears are loosely mounted,said gears being provided each with a pinhole, clutch discsl lined on the spindles and each having a pinhole,

and clutch elements rotatably and shittably l mounted on said spindles and being provided With pins to pass through the pinholes of the gears and into the pinholes of the clutch discs whereby to operatively connect the gears to the spindles to drive the same.

8. A street or station' indicator comprising, in combination, an intermittently opera-` tive motor, a Vpair 'of meshed gears one otr which is driven directly by the motor, reel llU carrying spindles on whichthe said gears are loosely mounted, said gears being provided each with a pinhole, clutch discs'iixed on the spindles and each having a pinhole, and clutch elements rotatably and shiftably mounted on said spindles and being provided with pins tc pass through'the pinholes of the gears and into the pinholes of the clutch discs whereby to operatively connect the gears to the spindles vto drivethe same, and means for yieldingly thrusting the clutch elements to the effective clutching position and operative to hold the clutch pins against contiguous faces of the clutch discs until the pinholes therein register with the clutch pins.

9. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, an intermittently operative motor, a pair of meshed gears one of which is driven directly by the motor, reel carrying spindles on which the said gears are loosely mounted, said gears being provided cach with a pinhole, clutch. discs iixed on the spindles and each having a pinhole, clutch elements rotatably and shiftably mounted on lsaid spindles and being provided with pins to pass throughthe pinholes of the gears and into the pinholes of the clutch discs whereby to operatively connect the gears to the spindles to drive the same, and means for controlling concurrent movement of the clutch elements in opposite directions from and to effective clutching positions. p

10. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, an intermittently operativo motor, a pair of meshed gears one of which is driven directly by the motor, reel carrying spindles on which the said gears are loosely mounted, said gears being provided each with a pinhole, clutch discs iixed on the spindles and each having a pinhole, clutch elements rotatably and shiftably mounted on said spindles and being'provided with pins to pass through the pinholes of the gears and into the pinholes of the clutch discs whereby to operatively connect the gears to the spindles to drive the same, and means 'for controlling concurrent movement oi the clutch elements :in opposite directions from and to e'ltective clutching positions, said means including a lever combined with said clutch elements.

ll. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, an intermittently operative motor, a pair oit meshed gears one of which is driven directly by the motor, reel carrying spindles on which the said gears are loosely mounted, said gears being vprovided each with a pinhole, clutch discs fixed on the spindles and each having a pinhole, clutch elements rotatably and shiftably mounted on said spindles and being provided with pins to pass through the pinholes of the gears and into the pinholes of the clutch discs whereby to operatively connect the gears `to the spindles to drive 'the same,

lmeans iorcontrolling concurrent movement of the clutch elements in opposite directions from' and to effective clutching positions, and means for locking the last named means in each of its two normal positions.

12. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, a pair oi' parallel spindles and tape winding reels mounted on the spindles, a motor, a pair of meshed gears one of whic-h is directly driven by said motor, said gears being loosely mounted on said spindles, and vclutch means including par-ts concurrently movable in opposite directions, whereby to connect and disconnect the gears respectively to and from the spindles so that one spindle will be driven by the operating gears to wind a tape on its reelfwhilst the other spindle will be released to rotate freely with and by the unwinding of the tape from its reel.

` 13. A street or station indicator comprisingin combination, a pair of parallel spindles and tape winding reels mounted on the spindles,a motor, a pair of meshed gears one oi' which is dir ctly driven by said, motor, said gears being loosely mounted onr said spindles, clutch means including parts concurrently movable in opposite directions, whereby to connect and disconnect the gears respectively to and from the spindles so that one spindle will be driven by the operating gearsk to wind a tape on its reel whilst. the other spindle will be released to rotate freely with and by the unwinding of the tape from its reel, and manually controlled means for effecting intermittent operation of the motor.

14. A street or station indicator comprising, in combination, a pair of parallel spindles and tape winding reels mounted kon the spindles, a motor, a pair of meshed gears one of which is directly driven by said motor, said gears being loosely 'mounted ony said spindles, clutch means including parts concurrently movable in opposite directions, whereby to connect and disconnect the gears respectively to and from the spindles so that one spindle will be driven by the operating gears to wind a tape on its reel whilst the other spindle will be released to rotate freely with'and by the unwinding of, the tape from its reel, and manually controlled means for effecting a reversal oit the eiiective clutch actions on the spindles whereby to reverse the winding direction of travel of the said tape `by the reels.

15. A street or station indicator comprising., in combination, a pair of parallel spindles and tape winding reels mounted on the spindles, a motor, a.y pair offmeshed gears one of whichis directly driven by said motor, said gears being loosely mounted on said spindles, and clutch means including parts concurrently movable in opposite directions, whereby to connect and disconnect the gears respectively to and from the spindles so that one spindle will be driven by the operating gears to Wind a tape on its reel Whilst the other spindle Will be released to rotate freely with and by the unwinding of the tape from its reel, said gears operating,` to

drive the spindles in opposite directions whereby to eect a reversal of direction of travel oi' the tape by the reels when the clutches are intermittently reversed in effectiveness.

In testimony whereof I have signedmy name to this speciiication.

AUGUSTA DULL. 

